Doctor Owen Harper- The Story That Never Was
by aBlue Gillespian
Summary: During the Year That Never Was we saw the stories of Martha, Jack and the Doctor, but there were so many more stories that never were. Here we have the story of Owen Harper, a story that no one remembers.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my DVDs.**

**A/N: **I know I have many unfinished stories but I just had this in my head for ages now and wouldn't leave me. I can't promise that it will be updated frequently but maybe could be more often than some of the others. Hopefully.

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**Prologue.**

His phone rang at 3:45 in the morning. He fumbled around the top of his dresser until he located the ringing phone.

"Doctor Owen Harper," he answered, sighing with resignation and not bothering to open his eyes.

"_Good morning_," came the cheerful greeting, and the bright voice of Ianto Jones over the speaker. Owen could swear that Ianto Jones could be alert, bright eyed and bushy tiled no matter what the time, or how little he had slept. It offended Owen's senses and hangover brain.

"D'you actually know what time is it?" Owen growled in displeasure. He opened his eyes and turned around grunting. Reached for the bedside lamp to turn in on.

A sight came over the line, and then Ianto's voice sounded no less tired than Owen's own.

"_Yes, Owen, I do actually."_

"_C'mon sunshine. Rise and shine_!" Owen could hear Gwen calling over the speaker phone. So they were probably already in the conference room at the Hub.

Gwen used to be the one to come last to work, being constantly late, even more so than Owen. However, since Jack had disappeared she seemed dead intent on being the hard working leader, and didn't seem to be too bothered by waking up early. Owen preferred her much more before when she was late. He used to stare at her ass and day dream. Right now he just wanted to kick his boot so far up her cheerful, morning ass…

Rise and shine, indeed.

"_Torchwood is going to the Himalayas_," Gwen told him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Still own nothing. **

**A/N: Not beta-ed because I promised more frequent updates. My beta is busy but I will replace it with the edited version when it is ready.**

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_ We're spinning round on this ball of hate_  
_ There's no parole, there's no great escape_  
_ We're sentenced here until the end of days_  
_ And then my brother there's a price to pay_

_ We're only human, we were born to die_  
_ Without the benefit of reason why_  
_ We live for pleasure to be satisfied_  
_ And now it's over there's no place to hide_

_ Why don't you, come down to_  
_ It's such a brutal planet_  
_ It's such an ugly world_  
_ Why won't you, come down to_

_ **Alice Cooper- "Brutal Planet"**_

When the flying, metal balls of hell descended upon the human race, the Torchwood team was more than out of the loop. The team did not have any information on the situation of what was happening over at United Kingdom, nothing after the election. It was strange how Tosh's tech would work wonders to detect residual energies, for all the good that it did them, on week on and they still were no nearer to finding their objective. Try to get any channel however or any satellite and phone connection, and there was only white noise and static. Owen had tried it, first to access the news and later to try and contact Ianto at the Hub. Nothing they did worked, not Toshiko's genius tinkering, neither Owen's swearing and kicking the equipment. He had to stop this tactic of course when Tosh threated to push him off one of the cliffs if he damaged any more of her tech toys.

It wasn't only Owen's frustration with the Torchwood equipment. They were all frustrated because they felt helpless. It all had started very fast and the battle was fought and lost very abruptly. The humans didn't stand a chance with this invasion, they weren't prepared. And Torchwood, the people who were supposed to be there protecting them, was stuck thousands of miles up a mountain looking for a Yeti.

"That's just bollocks," Owen shouted and kicked the snow around him. It was stained pink with blood that had dripped from the bodies over the top cliff.

Torchwood team had made their way down towards the village the moment the invasion started. Not that they could do much, as with their equipment, the team was useless in this situation, stuck only with their personal side arms and some tranquiliser darts in Owen's medical case. For all the good they will do with the metal balls.

"Keep quiet," Gwen hissed. "They will hear you."

"So what? They'll kill me now instead in two days. What's the difference?" Owen growled back at her. He knew that she was right, but he was frustrated. Someone wanted Torchwood out of the way.

"We are not lost yet," Toshiko whispered. "We still have Ianto within the Hub even if we can't contact him."

Owen looked at Toshiko incredulous and had a hard time not laughing. Not because anything was particularly funny but because he felt the hysterical laughter bubbling up inside of him and begging for a release instead of the frustration. Maybe he will go mad if he didn't let it go, maybe going mad will be a good option right now. Going mad would mean not having to think of the bodies strewn around the village, with their horrified expressions, sightless eyes and rivulets of blood painting the landscape in pink and red.

"Yeah, and what's Tea-boy gonna do? Serve them decaf?"

He stormed off. It was his usual way of showing annoyance apart from swearing and being rude. But storming off was most effective because it left the annoying party behind him. He could hear the two women's quick steps shifting through the snow. They were clearly trying to be as quiet as they could while moving.

"Owen," Gwen hissed at him again. He could detect in the tone of her voice that she was losing her temper. "What do you think you are doing?"

"Finding my way towards civilization," he answered, deliberately loud so he could annoy her. "You really think hidin' 'ere and keepin' quiet will do us any good? They are metal balls. I don't think they need their hearing to find us."

"He is right, Gwen, we need to do something, we are Torchwood," Tosh said placating.

Gwen gave her a scornful look and Owen had to stop himself commenting on any of the girls, or he would have started another verbal war. It looked as Gwen was going to manage this all by herself. Owen really missed popcorn right now. _Had he mentioned how much he hates the countryside on this trip?_ He was sick of sleeping in a tent and having to take almost his whole clothing just to take a piss against a three or a snow mound.

Gwen huffed out a frustrated breath, all this was clearly playing havoc with her passionate nature and the usual impulsive desire to just jump and run into the situation. It was hard but she controlled it and assumed the position of the leader, the rational one, the one that has to get them out alive. Owen had struggled at first with her, but in the end let her lead. His hot head and stubbornness would have let them nowhere. Of course, it wasn't like Gwen didn't possess the same character traits, but she could control them better when she was under stress, Owen could see that she was a natural leader. Toshiko was more interested into playing with her gadgets before they run out of power to really start leading them, beside with her timid nature neither of the other two would listen to her, and she knew it. So, Gwen was their leader in Jack's absence.

_And where the fuck was Jack when they need him the most, anyway?_

"I know Tosh, but let's just be cautious!" The argument had carried on while Owens mind had wandered around. "You know me, I'm usually the one to rush in without thinking, but we won't do any good for the other people if we get ourselves killed before we could do anything."

Both Toshiko and Owen had to concede that Gwen had a point and most likely had formed a plan while they were panicking. They nodded in agreement and waited for her to tell them what she had in mind.

"First and foremost we need to stay alive," Gwen told them.

_Well, yeah, aren't we Miss Obvious!_

Gwen continued unaware of Owen's caustic thoughts.

"I know that won't be easy and we will feel the desire to just rush and save someone. But even if we have to witness these things murder we need to keep cool heads and keep going."

"Yeah, stay alive, an' then what? Then, what do we do?" Owen asked.

"Then we go down to the nearest town and find a way to find some connection and see what really is going on. And then we save the world." Gwen said it with such a conviction that Owen thought she had been infected with Jack's hero complex. It worried him because if this didn't get her killed first, it was going to break her if they were too late do anything. But they nodded and started to move slower and keep to the shade of the rocks. Tosh took out her still working PDA and calibrated it for proximity alarm, or at least to flash as they could not afford to give off the sound. Her PDA was the only one still working, she had done some pocking around that Owen couldn't even name and had extended its power supply, but it was going to eventually run out of power and give up on them as well. When that happened they would have to rely on their own knowledge, and Owen knew that he was useless in the wild. At least he still had his medical supplies with him, but they were basic and how long will they last? Not much if any of them gets injured.

The trek down the mountain wasn't easy as the tree Torchwood members weren't climbers but it was steady and not too dangerous. So far they haven't encountered more of the metal balls or bodies. Maybe the aliens were busy somewhere else, after all how many people were in the deep mountain? Not many anyway as there weren't bodies. Either not many people had gone hiking this time, or they managed to hide from the monsters. Owen hoped it was the later, he didn't want to think of what was happening in the bid cities. All these people…But maybe in a city like London and New York there were more places to hide. Still the balls seem to just appear, what if they could just teleport inside every habitable space? Were there people who could invent perception filter for hideouts fast enough to save lives? Or where they the only people left alive in the whole world? The thought made him shiver and Owen had to pull his coat tighter around himself.

They had made it to a relatively even terrain now and the snow was tinning, it had even melted in patches and Owen could see the ground under it. It squelched under the soles of his tick boots and it sickened him but at least the cold wasn't as biting as it was up top. They were nearing a tourist town now and he could feel his insides fluttering with trepidation of what they will find there.

It was getting dark and dangerous to walk, and despite knowing that they were not too far away from the small town with its warm food and nice hotel beds, the three of them knew they had to stop and wait for the next day. It would have been better to travel under the cover of the night's darkness and at daylight, but as long as they were on an uneven mountain terrain they could not risk walking in darkness. So Gwen found a dent in the rocks that looked large and solid enough to cover them from wind and unwelcome eyes without falling on them, Tosh set up the surveillance tech and Owen prepared the sleeping bags and some food. There wasn't much food to prepare really, he couldn't risk lighting a fire and giving up their position. So it was cold tined beans on stale bread. But it was something to keep them going. The other pressing problem with the lack of fire was the cold. They were already starting to feel it, penetrating through their thick clothes, stinging like needles, stiffening their limbs and making their teeth clatter.

Sleeping for too long a time wasn't an option because of the baiting cold. They need to periodically wake up each other, and change at who was going to stay awake, something that led to sleep deprivation and naturally making them cranky; Owen more than ever. Pacing around didn't do much to keep him warm, so when Gwen proposed that they all sleep and keep themselves from hypothermia by sharing body heath, he was bound to say something stupid.

"I think Gwen has a point," Tosh said. "We all need to be rested and alert in a few hours."

Owen snorted and shook his head, then directed a piercing gaze at Gwen.

"If that's you wishing to fulfil some fantasies about cuddling with me Tosh, it ain't gonna work," Owen blurred out before he could think of his colleague's feelings. "That's not the time to get naked."

Hurt flashed briefly over Tosh's face, but it was quickly followed by stoic indifference. She turned away from him busying herself in her trusted electronics, recalibrating the silent proximity alarm and fixing it to her arm.

"I have no wishes either hidden or not to get naked around you, Owen," she said coldly. "We could always put Gwen in the middle. You've seen and touched Gwen naked already, shouldn't be a problem."

"Do you have a secret desire to get Gwen then?" Owen bit again. "Wouldn't be surprised won't be your first woman."

The moment he said it, Owen wanted to take it bag. He could see the raw hurt in Tosh's expression and body language just before she took her sleeping back and prepared to leave.

"Tosh, where are you going?" Gwen demanded to know getting up from her sleeping bag.

"I'd rather take my chances with the wind outside and the metal balls than stay here," Tosh answered and left the small cave.

Gwen turned towards Owen with her eyes wide open with fury. Her body was shaking with barely repressed anger and the desire to rage and hit him. For a moment Owen thought that she would jump on him and claw his face, instead she reined her anger the best she could.

"Do you have to be such a bastard?" Gwen spat, then turned around and went after Tosh.


End file.
